A unique sit-in at Srinagar’s Pratap Park on Tuesday highlighted another facet of Kashmir conflict as dozens of men, women and children cried for justice from the authorities. They were a group of former militants, their Pakistani wives and children who possess a confused identity.
This new tribe of protesters has arrived in Kashmir during the past two years since the Jammu & Kashmir Government announced a rehabilitation policy for the former militants who wanted to return to their homeland after shunning violence and furnishing an undertaking that they would lead a peaceful life. The Central Government backed the proposals.
The protest was triggered by the arrest of Syed liyaqat Shah, a former Kashmiri militant who was returning to Kashmir through Nepal but was arrested by Delhi Police who claimed that he planned an attack in the capital on Holi to avenge the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
The Jammu & Kashmir Police contradicted the claim saying Shah was returning along with his wife and children after completing the requisite formalities for the return of surrendered militants. Shah’s wife also said that they decided to return after receiving green signal from the authorities in jammu and Kashmir.
Around 350 families have returned from PoK, almost all of them through Nepal but most of them are facing slew of problems back home. They say that the home is no longer sweet for them.
Twin sisters Abeeha and Munqaha were holding a banner with a slogan urging the Government to fulfil its promises for the rehabilitation of families of former militants. “We were enrolled in British Academy School in Islamabad but here we don’t go to school”, the daughters of a former north Kashmir militant and his Pakistani wife said.
Dawood Ahmed who joined the protest along with his wife Saba and four children said he felt cheated by the Indian Government. “I am finding it difficult to keep my family alive. There’s been no financial help from the Government. They have backtracked on all their promises made under the rehabilitation policy,” he said.
Dawood’s son Hamid is struggling to get enrolled in a high school and met with the top officials of the school education department but to no avail. “They say there is no policy on enrolling us in higher classes”, he rued.
Asiya Hassan of Karachi, who is married to Nisar Ahmad Khan of Newa, Pulwama says that they were living a happier life in Pakistan and their return to Kashmir has only but increased their miseries. “Why did the Government open ways for our return to KashmirIJ They (authorities) have backtracked their promises. We have nowhere to go now. We repent our decision to return,” she told The Pioneer.
Manzoor Ahmed of Bandipora who has returned with his wife and daughter is in a similar plight. “We have been taken care of by our relatives for the last three months; but how long can they sustain us.”
Finance is not the only problem for these families. Bashir Ahmed of Pahalgam has brought along his son Usman who was born in PoK. Now 17, Usman passed his IXth Class examination in Muzaffarabad. But he is now unable to sit in the Xth Class due to procedural hassles.
“I met the Chief Education Officer, officials of the Board of School Education and other Government authorities. But I have simply been tossed around,” Usman said. “Kashmir is a good place to visit and move around for some time. But it is definitely not a place to live,” he said.
The protesting families said they were not able to obtain ration cards. Worse, they are not getting State subject certificates which are necessary for applying for a Government job and for buying immovable property in the State.
Almost all the families who joined the protest said they lived a decent life in Muzaffarabad. The desire to return home was too strong for them. But now they are feeling like strangers in their own homeland.
“If they don’t want to accept us, let them at least send us back. That would make life easier for us,” says Dawood.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently acknowledged that the Government was not taking care of the families who have returned from Pakistan. He defended the Government’s indifference by saying that these families had not reported at the designated points of ingress and had instead taken routes of their own choice.
But Manzoor Ahmed of Bandipora said his was among six families who tried to come via Uri. “The Indian Army warned us to retreat or be shot. We had no choice but to come via Nepal.”
President of the organisation of “PoK returnees under rehabilitation policy”, Ehsanul Haq said that the media was responsible for painting a different picture of Kashmir’s situation and the features of surrender policy that coaxed them to return. “But we faced a multitude of problems back home. Our children are facing the identity crisis,” he said.
Director General of Police (DGP), Ashok Prasad, said the State Government was looking into the issues being faced by the ex-militants who have returned to their homes for leading a normal life. “The Government is very serious about the policy and it will take some time for them to get settled. Issues like ration, schooling of children and other similar things have been paid special attention,” Prasad said.
He said the issues like citizenship and validity of their degrees for higher education were major issues which will take a lot of time for redressal. “These are legal and Constitutional issues which will take time, however, all other facilities necessary for them to lead a normal life are being taken care of,” he said.
The DGP said the issue of arrest of liyaqat Shah has already been taken up by the NIA for investigations. “We are in touch with authorities and investigation has already been started. As soon as we get a report from them, we will see into that issue as well,” he added.